Gabby Aroshas of Hollywood uses slow cooker for weeknight meals

Every day is a juggling act for Gabby Aroshas of Hollywood. As a mother to 6-year-old Shai and 4-year-old Shira, Gabby is architect of play dates, carpools, birthday parties and more. As senior diabetes care specialist for Novo Nordisk, she's busy with hospital and doctor office visits, as well as work at home.

She's lucky that her husband, Jack, is happy to help care for the girls and maintain their home. The kitchen, however, is strictly Gabby's domain.

Gabby loves to create parties for special occasions like bridal or baby showers. And she enjoys cooking with her kids on weekends. Shira particularly wants to be a part of cooking activities.

Weeknights, however, are a different story. "I really hate dinnertime," Gabby says. "It's my least favorite part of the day."

She comes home tired and the children want dinner on the table immediately. "It's a constant battle to keep them from eating everything in sight until dinner is ready," she says.

Because Gabby wants to have dinner ready when she walks through the door, she's come to rely on her slow cooker. Her first experiments with this appliance led to dried-out dishes. But the couple solved the problem by having Jack stop home midday and check on the meal.

Recipes can be misleading, she says, because not all slow cookers are created equal. She's discovered that just as some ovens heat more quickly or have hot spots, so it is with slow cookers.

Newer models may heat to higher temperatures, and they have more bells and whistles. Thus she's learned she may have to try a recipe and then adapt it to her slow cooker.

Gabby also is concerned about her family's health. Gabby has high blood pressure; Jack was recently diagnosed with high cholesterol. She also wants to serve dishes that appeal to the tastes of her children. Creating a menu to please all can be tricky.

Moroccan Chicken, a new family favorite, fits the bill on all accounts. The recipe contains enough liquid so the cooker can be set on low and heat all day without the dish drying out. Olive oil assures the dish is heart healthy; olives and dried prunes provide a salty-sweet depth of flavor yet are healthful ingredients. Although Gabby does not add any salt to the dish, it can be added to taste.

This dish pairs well with either couscous or rice. Gabby prefers couscous because it takes only five minutes to make and has the same ethnic background as the chicken dish. Gabby also likes that the recipe makes eight servings. She can refrigerate or freeze leftovers.

Place garlic, vinegar, oil, olives, oregano, pepper, prunes, brown sugar, wine and bay leaves in the pot of a slow cooker. Stir well. Cut the chicken into 2 inch cubes. Place chicken on top of other ingredients. Cover and cook on low 4 hours until the chicken is no longer pink in the middle. Makes 8 servings.